Tag: Wildflower

Another great wildflower that grows in our area is the Trout Lily. Found in large clusters this beautiful little flower gets it’s name for the trout like pattern on the leaves of the newly emerging wildflower.

The trout lily sprouts and flowers in early spring, before new tree leaves grow. Plants grow from a white bulb that have a tooth-like shape. This wildflower will usually grow when underground rhizomes spread and form clusters or colonies. Mature plants also spread by seeds. Ants can scatter the seeds, eating part of the seed and leaving the rest to germinate. And some trout lily colonies can be 200 to 300 years old.

The plants are found in woodland habitats and moist hillsides the stamens can either be yellow or black and can be quite large for such a small plant. The Trout Lily is just another great example of all the wonderful wildflowers that are on display right now just waiting for you to view.

Frenzy is the only word I can use to describe what I have been seeing here in Madison Indiana when it comes to Monarch behavior the last couple evenings. And I think this is as close as I may ever come to witnessing a full fledged Monarch roost as I may ever come to see as well.

I work at King’s Daughters’ Health a hospital based in Southern Indiana near Madison. The hospital sits on twenty two acres of land that right now is covered in Goldenrod and White Aster. We are also right in the middle of the annual Monarch migration and with this years brood of butterflies being one of the best, some say in the last twenty years, it has definitely made for a frenzy of activity right at my own workplace!

The last two nights I have observed hundreds of these beautiful creatures and they have been so accommodating to my presence that I have been able to capture many images of these majestic little jewels, probably more than in any other year of photographing them, all in two evenings!

I don’t know how long this will last the weather tonight turned windy and wet and while leaving work I did not see nearly as many gliding over the fields like I had seen in the last couple days. Hopefully the weather will settle and maybe if I am lucky I will get a couple more shots at this amazing spectacle before they continue on their migration south to central Mexico.

There are many times in life’s journey you come across times that make such an impression on you that you carry them with you the rest of your life and I believe this may be one of those times. Some people may scoff at this but when you spend as much time as I have pursuing these and all other butterflies the last few years it’s these times that make it all worth while!

Hope you enjoy the images and maybe someday you will be able to witness a moment like this as well!

It’s funny that I have spent my entire summer photographing butterflies and even though I have captured many of the great summer wildflowers that grow here in the Madison Indiana area I have neglected to post any here on my blog. And what makes it funny is that I love to photograph wildflowers more than anything else !!

Here are three examples of beautiful wildflowers that call the area home. Michigan Lily, Black-eyed Susan and the Wild Bergamot.
All three are beautiful wildflowers but their real importance comes from the fact that butterflies and other pollinators love them.

There is nothing quite as beautiful as a butterfly feeding on a wildflower in an open feed on a late summer afternoon !!

I will have many more examples of the different wildflowers that we have here in southern Indiana and will share them at a later time. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look !!

Another great butterfly from the Madison Indiana area photographed at Big Oaks NWR in Jefferson County. This is a really cool little butterfly that mimics the larger Monarch butterfly to protect itself from birds and other predators.

The Monarchs have a really bad taste to predators, so I have been told, so the Viceroy has mimicked the look of the Monarch to hopefully protect themselves from birds and other predators that may want to have a taste of them.

Whether that is true or not I am not really sure, recently I have read that Viceroys have always had a bad taste.I would sure love to know who is tasting all these butterflies and is it really a good idea to be doing that !! Please excuse my attempt at being humorous.

Whatever the case they are one of the most beautiful butterflies that grace our area and are always a wonderful site to behold. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look !!

Another great butterfly the Tiger Swallowtail probably the most abundant butterfly here in the Madison Indiana area.

This wonderful butterfly is one of the largest and most beautiful butterflies to view and photograph, generally they will sit pretty still if you don’t move to fast and they really enjoy the many garden flowers that we have here in Madison.

This subject was photographed at Big Oaks NWR and was feeding on Blazing Star which is one of the best wildflowers for attracting pollinators.

Hope you enjoy the image and if you get out in the fields or backyard keep your eyes peeled for this great Butterfly !!

Been a great summer photographing these flying flowers don’t know if it’s a cycle but I have never saw so many beautiful specimens, especially Monarchs I know their population has taken a great hit over the last few years but this year I have seen a crazy amount of them !!

The image I have posted is a Common Buckeye which I captured at Big Oaks NWR near Madison Indiana a few weeks ago. Absolutely love the markings and the color on this little guy. The butterflies will be really peaking over the next several weeks a as the migration south begins for many of the varieties that inhabit the Midwest.

One of my favorite native wildflowers that grow here in the Madison Indiana area. The blue of a fresh blooming bluebell is one of the most beautifully striking colors in nature and one that must be seen close up. Adding in the lovely contrasting purple colors make this an extremely lovely sight to behold.

So if you get a chance try hiking thru some of the amazing gorges and hillsdies that line the Ohio River here in Southern Indiana and take a closer look at this little gem !!